Horse Sense
by littlemisslibrarian
Summary: "It's amazing what you can learn from observing humans. It's amazing how stupid they think we are." The story of a chariot horse who is fed up with the Capitol and the Hunger Games. She escapes the Capitol with two tributes in tow.


I woke up on parade day, not wanting to step out of the warm stable into the cool night. But my stylists entered my stall and buzzed around me like flies. If only they were just flies. A flick of a tail wouldn't chase these pests away. I nibbled on some vitamin-enriched hay on the floor as my hair was brushed. As usual, the stylists _tsk_ed at the hay dust that collected in their brush. My hooves were filed into neat points and polished to a shiny jet black as my dark brown hair was shampooed. My black mane and tail were braided. Then they put the black reins on me and led me to the chariot. I don't know why they pretty me up so much. I'm not the real star of the show.

I dragged the heavy carriage to a large room where 11 other horses waited for their tributes to arrive. Finally, the District 11 tributes arrived. They hesitantly stepped onto the chariot. I could sense their fear. Even though I was treated well, I did not like my job. I was forced to parade human children around so their own species could see who was going to die. The crowd enjoyed it. It sickened me. You don't put on a pageant for the people you are going to kill. They weren't killed by the Capitol directly, but they were forced to fight to the death in the thing the humans call the "Hunger Games." Everyone in the stable calls it The Slaughter.

The music started, and the chariots got into a single file line by order of district as they exited through the glittery curtains. I followed District 10 out into the roaring crowd. The roaring seemed savage to me. I heard the girl from 11 talking. I turned my ears to hear better.

"I'm thinking of just killing myself when I get into that arena," she whispered to the boy. "I don't want to give them the satisfaction of killing me."

"I know what you mean. I wish there was a way out of this. But wishes don't help anyone."

The girl started to cry. I couldn't take it anymore. I snorted and stopped in my tracks. The 12 chariot nearly ran into me. I turned as sharply as I could and ran through the crow. The people dodged away. I tried not to step on anyone, but I think I trampled a few toes. And one man might need to go to the hospital for that leg. The tributes screamed, but the held on. Their leafy costumes (they were dressed as cornstalks) flickered in the corner of my eye. That startled me and made me run faster. But it was still slow going through the crowd. I saw a white wall of Peacekeepers heading toward us. They were carrying guns!

My pulse raced as I looked around. I headed for a slight gap in the wall of Peacekeepers. Soon, I wasn't surrounded anymore. They were chasing me as President Snow shouted "Stop that horse!" Sirens wailed and chaos ensued. I ran through the streets, which were deserted for the festivities. With any luck, the 73rd Hunger Games would be the last. It was hard to run with a heavy chariot and two kids, and I felt myself slowing down. Just a little longer and I would reach a train. If I could get inside the train, maybe they wouldn't reach us.

"What's going on," the boy asked.

"You know as much as I do," the girl screamed.

We reached the train. I felt a bullet whiz through my ear and a sharp pain distracted me. But with a sudden burst of adrenaline I slammed through the door just as the train was starting to move off of the platform. Luckily, there was nobody in the train. I didn't know where it was going. I panted heavily for several minutes, unable to catch my breath. The pain in my ear was barely tolerable. I grew dizzy and knew I was losing a significant amount of blood. The boy tribute jumped off the chariot.

"This horse is very smart! She just saved us!"

The tributes laughed. I turned to them. For the first time, I got a good look at them. The girl was probably around 14 in human years, and the boy probably 15. Satisfied that they were relatively safe, they took the harness and reins off of me. I felt lighter and almost pranced around with joy until I remembered that we were in closed quarters. The boy found a towel and wrapped it around my ear, trying to stop it from bleeding. The girl touched my muzzle.

"We'll take care of you, girl. Won't we, Yuri?"

The boy-Yuri-nodded. "What choice do we have? I still can't get over how smart this horse is!"

Humans are slow.

"What do we do now? The train is probably going in for repairs. They'll find us for sure," the girl said.

"Don't worry, Amaranthe. We'll just jump out while it's stopping for water."

"When will that be? What if it doesn't stop for water?"

"Is there an emergency brake or something on this?"

Amaranthe glanced around. She noticed a red button next to the door to the next car. She pressed it and the train jolted to a stop. We were knocked off our feet. I had a harder time getting up because I'm a seven hundred pound horse. I heard shouts and the conductor's footsteps. I knew the humans probably hadn't heard it yet, so I flicked my back with my tail and snorted, trying to signal them to get on. But they just jumped out. I rolled my eyes and leaped out after them. They soon tired. Only then did they jump on my back

I went as deep into the woods as I could. When I glanced back over the kids' shoulders I saw the train zips by. They didn't catch us, but they probably saw the empty chariot that we ditched. They would be looking for us soon.


End file.
